Genesis 38
1 Yn the same tyme Judas yede doun fro his britheren, and turnede to a man of Odolla, Hiram bi name;
About that time, Judah left his brothers and settled near a man named Hirah, an Adullamite.
2 and he siy ther a douytir of a man of Canaan, Sue bi name. And whanne he hadde takun hir to wijf,
There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua, and he took her as a wife and slept with her.
3 he entride to hir, and sche conseyuede, and childide a sone, and clepide his name Her.
So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and Judah named him Er.
4 And eft whanne a child was conseyued, sche nemyde the child borun Onam.
Again she conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Onan.
5 And sche childide the thridde sone, whom sche clepide Cela, and whanne he was borun, sche ceesside to bere child more.
Then she gave birth to another son and named him Shelah; it was at Chezib that she gave birth to him.
6 Forsothe Judas yaf a wijf, `Thamar bi name, to his firste gendrid sone Her.
Now Judah acquired a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.
7 And Her, the firste gendrid sone of Judas, was weiward in the siyt of the Lord, and therfor he was slayn of the Lord.
But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; so the LORD put him to death.
8 Therfor Judas seide to Onam, his sone, Entre thou to the wijf of thi brothir, and be thou felouschipid to hir, that thou reise seed to thi brothir.
Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and raise up offspring for your brother.”
9 And he wiste that sones schulden not be borun to him, `and he entride to the wijf of his brother, and schedde seed in to the erthe, lest the fre children schulden be borun bi the name of the brother;
But Onan knew that the offspring would not belong to him; so whenever he would sleep with his brother’s wife, he would spill his seed on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother.
10 and therfor the Lord smoot hym, for he dide abhomynable thing.
What he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD, so He put Onan to death as well.
11 Wherfor Judas seide to Thamar, `wijf of his sone, Be thou widewe in the hous of thi fadir, til Sela my sone wexe, for he dredde lest also he schulde die as hise britheren. And sche yede, and dwellide in the hous of hir fadir.
Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.
12 Forsothe whanne many yeeris weren passid, the douyter of Sue, `the wijf of Juda, diede, and whanne coumfort was takun aftir morenyng, he stiede to the schereris of hise scheep, he and Iras of Odolla, that was kepere of the floc, stieden in to Thampnas.
After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah.
13 And it was teld to Thamar, that `the fadir of hir hosebonde stiede to Thampnas, to schere scheep.
When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,”
14 And sche dide awei the clothis of widewehod, and sche took a roket, and whanne the clothinge was chaungid, sche sat in the weilot that ledith to Tampna; for Sela hadde woxe, and sche hadde not take hym to hosebonde.
she removed her widow’s garments, covered her face with a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that although Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife.
15 And whanne Judas hadde seyn hir, he supposide hir to be an hoore, for sche hadde hilid hir face, lest sche were knowun.
When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face.
16 And Judas entride to hir, and seide, Suffre me that Y ligge with thee; for he wiste not that sche was the wijf of his sone. And whanne sche answeride, What schalt thou yyue to me, that thou ligge bi me?
Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.” “What will you give me for sleeping with you?” she inquired.
17 he seide, Y schal sende to thee a kide of the flockis. And eft whanne sche seide, Y schal suffre that that thou wolt, if thou schalt yyue to me a wed, til thou sendist that that thou bihetist.
“I will send you a young goat from my flock,” Judah answered. But she replied, “Only if you leave me something as a pledge until you send it.”
18 Judas seide, What wolt thou that be youun to thee for a wed? She answeride, Thi ryng, and thi bie of the arm, and the staaf which thou holdist in the hond. Therfor the womman conseyuide at o liggyng bi, and sche roos, and yede;
“What pledge should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “Your seal and your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.
19 and whanne the clooth was `put awei which sche hadde take, sche was clothid in the clothis of widewhod.
Then Tamar got up and departed. And she removed her veil and put on her widow’s garments again.
20 Forsothe Judas sente a kide bi his scheepherde of Odolla, that he schulde resseyue the wed which he hadde youe to the womman; and whanne he hadde not founde hir,
Now when Judah sent his friend Hirah the Adullamite with the young goat to collect the items he had left with the woman, he could not find her.
21 he axide men of that place, Where is the womman that sat in the weie lot? And whanne alle men answeriden, An hoore was not in this place; he turnede ayen to Judas,
He asked the men of that place, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?” “No shrine prostitute has been here,” they answered.
22 and seide to hym, Y foond not hir, but also men of that place seiden to me, that an hoore sat neuere there.
So Hirah returned to Judah and said, “I could not find her, and furthermore, the men of that place said, ‘No shrine prostitute has been here.’”
23 Judas seide, Haue sche to hir silf, certis sche may not repreue vs of a leesyng; Y sente the kyde which Y bihiyte, and thou foundist not hir.
“Let her keep the items,” Judah replied. “Otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you could not find her.”
24 Lo! sotheli aftir thre monethis thei telden to Judas, and seiden, Thamar, `wijf of thi sone, hath do fornycacioun, and hir womb semeth to wexe greet. Judas seide, Brynge ye hir forth, that sche be brent.
About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and now she is pregnant.” “Bring her out!” Judah replied. “Let her be burned to death!”
25 And whanne sche was led to peyne, sche sente to `the fadir of hir hosebonde, and seide, Y haue conseyued of the man, whose these thingis ben; knowe thou whose is the ryng, and bie of the arm, and staf?
As she was being brought out, Tamar sent a message to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these items belong.” And she added, “Please examine them. Whose seal and cord and staff are these?”
26 And whanne the yiftis weren knowun, he seide, Sche is more iust than Y, for Y yaf not hir to Sela, my sone; netheles Judas knewe hir no more fleischli.
Judah recognized the items and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not have relations with her again.
27 Sotheli whanne the childberyng neiyede, twei chyldren apperiden in the wombe, and in that birthe of children, oon brouyte forth the hond, in which the mydwijf boond a reed threed,
When the time came for Tamar to give birth, there were twins in her womb.
28 and seide, This schal go out `the formere.
And as she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it around his wrist. “This one came out first,” she announced.
29 Sotheli while he withdrowe the hond, the tother yede out, and the womman seide, Whi was the skyn in which the child lay in the wombe departid for thee? And for this cause sche clepide his name Fares.
But when he pulled his hand back and his brother came out, she said, “You have broken out first!” So he was named Perez.
30 Afterward his brothir yede out, in whos hond was the reed threed, whom sche clepide Zaram.
Then his brother came out with the scarlet thread around his wrist, and he was named Zerah.
